1. Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to display devices, such as a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are one of the most widely used flat panel displays in the recent times. An LCD typically includes a pair of panels provided with field-generating electrodes, such as pixel electrodes and a common electrode, and a liquid crystal (LC) layer interposed between the two panels. The LCD displays images by applying voltages to the field-generating electrodes to create an electric field in the LC layer that determines the orientations of the LC molecules therein to adjust the polarization of incident light.
Among the LCDs, a vertical alignment (VA) mode LCD, which aligns LC molecules such that their longitudinal axes are perpendicular to the panels in the absence of an electric field, is highly regarded because of its high contrast ratio and wide reference viewing angle. Here, the reference viewing angle represents a viewing angle that has a contrast ratio of 1:10, or a critical angle of gray-to-gray luminance reversion.
When it comes to vertical alignment mode LCDs, in order to improve its side visibility closer to the front visibility, a method of creating a difference in transmittance by dividing one pixel into two sub-pixels and applying different voltages to the two sub-pixels has been used.
In this case, however, the luminance according to the grayscale changes rather quickly, particularly in a low grayscale portion or a high grayscale portion such that the gray expression of the display is distorted or incorrect, especially from the side, and the overall display quality deteriorates. Therefore, there is a need for a LCD device that can render an improved grayscale with superior side visibility.